Commercial aircraft manufacturers and their customers are increasingly interested in installing security devices aboard commercial aircraft. More specifically, one area of the security interest is related to cockpit, or flight deck, security and the systems in place to securely separate the flight deck from the passenger compartments of the aircraft. Additionally, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations have also been increasingly directed to the area of cockpit and flight deck security, and more specifically, to the area of flight deck door security.
While current cockpit doors are generally satisfactory for their applications, each is associated with its share of limitations. One major limitation of current cockpit doors, and interior aircraft doors in general, is their cumbersome characteristics during use. Since many current cockpit and interior doors are hinged so that they can swing in one or two directions, opening such a door can prove cumbersome on an aircraft given the use of floor space with seats, galleys and other necessary structures, and the limited space for people to move out of the path of such an opening door. The problem of opening a swinging, hinged door is compounded when a door user is carrying an item, pulling or pushing a cart, or toting or pulling a piece of luggage. Normally, the user or someone is touched by, or brushes against, a door when it is opened or closed. Alternatively, a user or another normally has to step around or at least move out of the way of an opening or closing door.
Another limitation of current interior and cockpit aircraft doors relates to their non-overlapping structure. That is, when a current hinged, swinging door is closed, a gap, regardless of how small, is realized around the perimeter of the door between the door and its surrounding structure, such as between the door and the bulkhead. This non-overlapping structure allows noise and air to pass around the door.
Yet another limitation of current interior and cockpit aircraft doors relates to their method of locking. Current swinging doors normally latch, or lock, opposite to the hinged side of the door when a user moves a mechanical latching device. These mechanical latch devices take on a variety of styles and methods of use and are susceptible to misalignment and preloading of the mechanisms. Additionally, these mechanical latches have an undesirable level of noise associated with them when they are used.
Still yet another limitation of many current cockpit doors is their less than optimum ballistic and intrusion resistance characteristics. Because of these less than optimum ballistic and intrusion resistance characteristics, some cockpit doors are limited in providing the desired ballistic and intrusion resistance characteristics desired by aircraft customers and the characteristics required by the FAA without heavy metallic inserts and edge treatments in the door and door frame. What is needed then is a device that does not suffer from the above limitations.